Caesars Southern Indiana is Officially Sold

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has officially agreed to purchase the Caesars Southern Indiana Casino.

Caesars Entertainment made the official announcement earlier this week, and the final price of the sale was $250 million.

Both of these groups have been working hard over the last few weeks to get a deal done, but it was finally wrapped up just before Christmas. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) originally had a deadline of Dec. 18 to complete the purchase, but it was given a few extra days to make a decision.

Caesars Entertainment operates casinos for the EBCI in the state of North Carolina, and this has been a great partnership. Through this agreement, the casinos will continue to use the Caesars Entertainment name and iconic logo.

Even though this deal was official on Dec. 24, the deal isn’t expected to close until some point in the first quarter of 2021. The casino will remain open during this transition period, and changes won’t be seen or felt inside of the property.

This property was originally an Indiana riverboat casino for more than 20 years but was relocated to a land-based location a year ago. Indiana changed the gambling laws to allow for land-based casino gambling, and Caesars was one of the companies that benefited from this change.

Caesars Entertainment was required to sell three of its five properties in the state of Indiana to complete a merger with Eldorado Resorts Inc. Dec. 31 was the initial deadline to find three buyers, but the Horseshoe Hammond Casino won’t be sold until some point in 2021.

The Indiana Gaming Commission will have to review this sale and approve of the purchase, but that is expected to happen without controversy. Caesars was able to sell its Tropicana Evansville property just a few months ago to Bally’s (formerly Twin River Worldwide Holdings).

A First For EBCI

This will be the first time that the EBCI offers commercial casino gambling as all of its other properties are on tribal land. The EBCI will have to follow all state regulations at this property, but most of the everyday operations will be similar to what they are used to.

Even though this is a first for the EBCI, it is not expected to be their last venture into commercial casino gambling. They have created a liability company that will help them evaluate and make future deals to expand into other states.

To be able to purchase Caesars Southern Indiana, the EBCI will be forced to take on some substantial debt. This is a big risk for the tribe, but it believes that the reward will outweigh the initial cost.

This will also give the EBCI a chance to enter the IN online sports betting industry in the state of Indiana. Caesars Southern Indiana has access to three sports betting skins, and online sports betting has been a huge revenue source for other Indiana casinos in the state.

For more sports news and legal sports betting in Indiana, check out more stories on our blog.

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